The book was written in 1974 with the aim of providing the reader with easily playable sets of rules that were more realistic than Featherstone's early rules. Most of the rules involve the use of stands to represent units rather than individual figures.

It aimed to do this by providing a set of core rules, with each chapter then modifying the basic rules to reflect the historical realities of the period. It is interesting to note that the concept of 'standard rules' with period modifiers has since become fashionable in modern wargaming.